Ben, Jane Powers Honored

CREWE -- A non-church-goer was recently overheard to say of the Rev. Ben Powers, "I really like him. He is so nice"

Those few words speak volumes of the man and minister whose congregation and the wider community celebrated here Sunday evening. The Reverend Powers and his wife, Jane, were honored for their quarter of a century of service to the ministry of Christ and the church and to the congregation's community outreach.

The Powers' achievement is, as an ad promoting their reception put it, "incredible."

During an era when too many churches change pastors as often as South American countries change rulers, Crewe Baptist has clung to their minister. A church with some of the community's most influential movers and shakers, Crewe Baptist understands what it has in this man and his lady.

A minister is charged with representing Christ to the faithful, but he (or she) also is charged with reaching out and ministering to those who have not darkened the church's doors in years. Ben Powers does this and then some. It does not appear to matter that those to whom he is counseling or ministering belong to his congregation. He carries the same sense of Christian love and charity to all.

But to have survived for a quarter of a century in one of the two or three mainline churches in the town underlines that this man of faith understands and likes people and knows how to deal with controversies without becoming the controversy. And to do all of this and more in Crewe, where many people wear their sensibilities on their sleeves, well, it is as the ad said, "incredible"

Ben Powers is the longest-serving minister in the 124- or 125-year history of Crewe Baptist Church. He leads the largest Baptist congregation between Petersburg and Lynchburg.

In an interview with The Journal six years ago, the Reverend Powers said his grandfather, who was a Free Will Baptist minister for decades, was one of his main heroes.

His grandfather surely would be proud of Ben Powers for his 25 years at Crewe Baptist. For there is, and pardon the judging here, a sense of constancy in this man's life and career. He is a man of loyalties and decency at a time of treacheries and indecencies.

His loyalty and love shine across the decades. After all, he married his childhood sweetheart and they remain the first family of Crewe Baptist.
Ben Powers, who started out to become a civil engineer, still sees himself as a bridge builder between and among people.

He became minister at the church on March 1, 1981. He probably still has a copy of his first sermon here. He titled it "Why Have You Sent For Me?"

At the risk of trivializing God, perhaps it was God who sent for Ben and Jane Power, that God said the names of these two mighty and constant servants of the Gospel and knew why they should be called to Crewe to serve Him and to serve believers and summon the non-believers to take up their cross and follow Christ.